eiginh

"In my opinion" = IMO

gazz2005uk

dont forget i live in uk so its already 6pm, would there be any point doing a water change in the next few hours when i only did one at 5

Lucy

Personally, I would before you go to bed. Those nitrates would make me super nervous especially since your platy was at the top.
How's he doing?

gazz2005uk

seems alright hes not at the top anymore, i did another test and it came out all the same except nitrates had come down to 40-60 so not too bad

Lucy

Cool, I'm glad he's feeling better.
You still should see a decrease in nitrites since you removed some with the water change. Could be just the way the strips take readings.

gazz2005uk

you dont like the strips do you lol

got another question to ask you about one of my fish gettin bullied, shall i do a new post or just ask on here?

Lucy

What gave it away? lol Liquid tests are much more reliable.

Start a new thread since it's a new topic.

Diggly

Hey Gaz - from the uk here!

To to Pets at home (yeah yeah I know) and get the liquid ammonia and liquid nitrite API test kit. They employees should be able to point it out to you.

You can buy prime on ebay if you really need it.

Now an explanation of the nitrogen cycle as I understand it:

Fish waste and uneaten food turns into ammonia. In a new tank there isnt enough bacteria to cope with ammonia and it will start to poison your fish. The safest way to combat this is 25% water changes every day or to buy tetra safestart and cross your fingers.

Once the bacteria has grown enough to cope with the ammonia, it breaks it down into nitrites which is also poisonous to the fish but the good news is you are into phase 2 of the cycle so keep up with water changes.

When your tank has finished cycling you will have readings of 0 ammonia 0 nitrItes and should have 5-10 nitrAtes. As your nitrate reading is high, personally I would add 1-2 live plants which will also help by eating the ammonia and nitrite and when the tank is cycled it will help you with nitrates, thats if you want live plants of course .

See if you have a maidenhead aquatics near you. they are brilliant and usually know what they are on about. www.fishkeeper.co.uk is their site .

gazz2005uk

Finally someone from my country lol..Ive already got 3 live plants in there, although one of them has been torn to shreds by the fish (greedy lol)..ive got a maidenhead aquatics about half hour - 40 mins away from where i live so i dont visit very often, i didnt realise about the nitrogen cycle until 2-3 weeks after id put the fish in, but theyre all still alive after over a month

Diggly

dont worry, we have all been misinformed I made the same mistake with my first tank but these guys really helped me out! they also gave me MTS though so be careful.

It is good that you have kept your fish alive that long and I really would recommend the liquid test kits, it will help put your mind at ease and monitor the water properly - plus it makes you feel smart when you finally understand why you are doing the tests!

and yes fish are pigs and my otos ruined about 3 of my plants lol! but it is worth it .

We will have to get more uk people in here